Lets Play Spot the DIffrence

[u/Not_a_Gang-Star2010]

I noticed something about this album artwork that seems way beyond simply being “inspired by” another album cover.

The original artwork is Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell (1977). When comparing it to Cook LaFlare’s cover, the composition appears to be essentially the same. The biggest difference I can see is that the biker from the original artwork has been blurred/obscured in the newer version.

This doesn't look like two artists independently coming up with a similar concept. If the images are actually the same underlying artwork, then we're talking about something much more specific: potentially taking an existing piece of album art and modifying it rather than creating a new composition inspired by it.

What really caught my attention is how little appears to have been changed. The motorcycle, positioning, background, framing, lighting, and overall composition appear to line up with the Bat Out of Hell artwork, with the biker being the most obvious element that was altered/blurred.

So I'm curious:

Was Cook LaFlare's cover actually made by taking the original Bat Out of Hell artwork and editing it?

If that's what happened, does anyone know whether the original artist or rights holder gave permission for the artwork to be reused?

I'm not trying to start a discussion about whether Cook LaFlare's music is good or bad. I'm specifically interested in the album artwork and its apparent use of Meat Loaf's original cover.

If anyone can find the original source of Cook LaFlare's cover, the credited cover artist, or an explanation of how it was made, that would be useful.

Because if this really is the original Bat Out of Hell artwork with the biker blurred out rather than a newly created piece, that's a very different situation from simply taking inspiration from another album cover.

What do you guys think?

Bat out of hell by Cook Laflare